


Warmth

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, i don't know what im doing, i love angsty keith okay, klance, this might get angsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-27
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-08-18 04:21:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8148958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: If he was winter, then this stranger was surely summer. Or Spring. Or beaches and warmth and heat and life.





	1. Chapter 1

Keith had grown to love the cold. He craved it, in fact. The chill that crept into his bones was welcome when all else had left them. When he walked outside and the wind that felt like hands grabbing his body and squeezing it left him feeling as if his shaky breaths were going to be the last, it felt like home. The cold noses, numb finger tips, joints that ached. It was all a sad and desperate way for Keith to feel alive and less _Keith_. It made sense to him. In the harsh, unforgiving cold it didn't matter what he said or did, it would treat him the same each time. People could flinch away from his volatile personality and drop their relationships but the cold wasn't interested in him, in his insignificant life.

Above all, he loved the rain. When he was in the rain he could feel. It rained and he came alive, in every sense of the word. Outside there would only be a few people, mainly stragglers running to shelter and each and every time Keith drank in that silent chaos. The droplets hitting his face, his arms, his legs, his everything was so small and cold and piercing and he loved it. When he felt numb and less than human, the rain was there. In the cruel way that the rain did, he would be thrown back into reality.

***

It was winter. Dirty snow lined the streets and paths. Keith closed his eyes against the wind and allowed it to send shockwaves through his entire body. Shoving his hands roughly into his pockets, he took a deep breath and walked towards his first lecture. The cold felt so beautiful to him, clean and sterile and empty. Partway through this journey, he felt a small tap on his shoulder and whipped around.

"you dropped your phone," the stranger said with a small smile. he held out the phone to Keith.

Keith stood transfixed. If he was winter, then this stranger was surely summer. Or Spring. Or beaches and warmth and heat and life. His tanned skin was bright and Keith almost felt like shielding his eyes, as if he were the sun. 

The stranger coughed and Keith was jolted back to the windy street. As he thanked him and went to take his phone the two boys' fingers brushed. They both visibly bristled and stood there for a few moments too long, battling the shocking contrast. Warmth. Keith had never felt anything as warm as the fingers that had just brushed against his. This boy had just melted something in Keith and he wanted it back.

They broke apart, almost fizzing with something entirely imaginary. The stranger nodded at Keith and walked away. As Keith resumed walking, he realised that the cold didn't seem so beautiful anymore.

What was it about this boy that had Keith so insanely confused? He struggled to answer the most simple questions and instead only felt his fingers again. What colour were his eyes? His hair? What was he wearing?

Warmth. It was the only answer he had. The only thing in Keith's mind was warmth. After classes that day he rushed home. He ignored the wind calling out to him, pulling him in its embrace. He pulled his hood tightly over his head and covered his skin when it started raining. He felt guilty as he did it. Keith felt that if he allowed the rain to touch his bare skin the warmth that previously occupied it would cease to exist.

The wind picked up and pushed him around. He broke into a light jog and finally made it to his apartment building. In a dream like state, he moved up the stairs and locked himself in his apartment. Sliding down the back of the door, he shrugged his jacket off and threw it to the side. He stretched out his hands in front of him. His fingertips were still purple from the cold, but instead of savouring it he rubbed them together and blew hot breath over them. Warmth. It was what he wanted, what he needed. The entire night was wasted on his desperate attempts for this feeling. Nothing stuck. He went to bed cold.

Keith woke up to the sun shining in his room and he smiled as a shiver crawled up his spine. He could taste the cold on his lips, despite his freezing fingertips still burning with the ghost of warmth. He had dreamt of summer. Of cuddling under blankets and of stolen kisses on a dark and humid beach. Why was he like this? What had changed in him so suddenly to want nothing to do with the cold? 

He pulled himself out of bed and turned the kettle on. While waiting for it to boil he checked his email and found an invitation to the annual university Christmas party. He scoffed and deleted it. The kettle beeped and he slowly made himself a cup of tea. The steam from the cup drifted lazily upwards and then disappeared. Impatiently sighing, he drank it too soon and burnt his tongue. He noticed that being numb because of cold felt distinctly different than being numb because of heat. Keith couldn't quite decide which one felt better.

He ignored his body, begging for cold, as he walked to his first class. With a large jacket bunched around him, he couldn't bear to feel the cold. He didn't feel that he deserved it. He grew uncomfortable and tried to ignore the heat pooling in his stomach. It was unbearable. Unable to deal with it any longer, he unzipped the coat. As soon as the wind hit his neck and blew through his shirt he knew he was wrong about something. He could never be warm, he could only pretend. He would be lying to himself if he said he didn't feel better now. Safer, even. In some ways, he felt like he had an addiction to a drug that, despite trying his best to avoid, always found its way back to him. 

Keith knew he couldn't go on this way if the only thing in his mind was this stranger. He knew he wanted to feel that warmth again. It distracted him. It calmed him. It cured him. He could fake it, but artificial heat did nothing to help him. Warmth could not be faked.


	2. Chapter 2

"You seem different" Keith flinched as he heard the words.

"What does that mean?" He shot back.

"I don't know, you're less _cold_ " Keith didn't respond, sighing to himself and sipping his coffee. 

He was sitting on a table to the side of a busy cafe with his cousin Shiro across from him. It had been a week since he saw that guy and the entire time after he couldn't shake it, that warmth, from his mind. With the steaming mug sandwiched between his hands, he could almost tell himself he wasn't cold. For now, at least. When he was lying alone in bed that night his cold hands and feet wouldn't be able to create the illusion of warmth.

***

The bell gently rang, signalling someone entering the shop. Keith’s eyes fluttered to the door lazily, entirely uninterested. His body froze momentarily. It was him. Keith was staring, he knew it. But he never thought that he would see the stranger again. He watched as he walked to the front of the store and ordered. joking around with the small, dorky barista.

"Keith?" Shiro asked, confusion visible on his features. "Do you know him?"

"No." He scrunched his eyes shut "Well, yes. I met him once." Keith felt a blush forming on his cheeks. "Do you know who he is?"

"English major, I think. Top of all his classes." Shiro said, shifting slightly in his chair and clearly uninterested, if not baffled, with the current conversation.

"Lance! Your drink is ready!" The barista called.

"Thanks, Pidge, you're the best" Lance responded. Lance. Keith rolled the name around his mouth. It suited him. He turned around and made accidental eye contact with Keith. Both of them froze.

Lance stood there, his hand wrapped around the drink on the counter and his body slightly twisted. Keith sat still, feeling every part of the chair against his body. In the warm lighting of the cafe, Lance looked more beautiful than he had in the snow. The yellow lights were reflecting off his soft features and leaving his face devoid of shadows. It was just them. In that busy cafe, it was just them. Each boy was longing for the touch of the other. The antidote to heat or to cold. Prompted by a question from Shiro,

"Keith? You okay?" He tore his eyes away from Lance. Immediately it felt almost as if something broke, or there was a rip in the air between them. Keith felt an absence of warmth he didn't even notice was there, to begin with. He stared at the table.

"I'm fine. It's fine." He mumbled.

***

Keith had made his way to the bathroom. He was staring deeply into the mirror, searching his reflection for _something_ , anything. The door got shoved open by someone who once again froze as they walked in. Lance. Keith struggled to find something to say. There was nothing. He breathed out slowly.

"I'm Keith." his heart was beating through his chest.

"Lance." He scrunched up his face slightly. "I'm Lance." Then he smiled. Keith had never seen anything as genuine as his smile, one that lit up his entire face and felt so in place there. It was something that relieved Keith entirely, although he didn't know what.

“I never thought I’d see you again.” Keith cringed at how cheesy that sounded, but Lance laughed.

“Maybe it’s just fate.” He suggested. Keith scoffed and Lance’s smile wavered. The two boys shuffled around awkwardly, unsure of what the next step was. “I hope you haven’t dropped your phone again.” Lance chuckled, “you wouldn’t have a handsome stranger to save the day again.” Keith began to relax, leaning uncomfortably against the sink.

“Who said anything about handsome?” Keith joked, raising an eyebrow. Lance hesitated, before laughing and flexing his arm.

“Are you saying,” he attempted to kiss his bicep but missed, “that I am not astoundingly enthralling?” Keith attempted to suppress a giggle but failed miserably and let out a loud laugh. Lance visibly softened.

“I’ll let you answer that yourself, muscle man.” Keith almost slipped where he was standing, unable to balance himself well enough while laughing.

“You’re cute,” Lance said before his eyes widened in disbelief. “I didn’t -”

“Hmm?” Keith was sure that he must’ve misheard, but Lance immediately turned red and muttered something to himself. “Did you just?” Keith felt a blush spread across his cheeks. “Say I’m?”

“I said nothing.” Lance grew comically frantic, “nothing was said.”

“Are you sure? Because I’m pretty sure you’re trying to flirt with me.” Keith fiddled with the bottom of his hoodie.

“And what if I am?” Lance queried. “Would you want that?” He leant slightly closer to Keith.

“You’re the one who called me cute,” Keith said matter-of-factly. The heat radiating off Lance was intoxicating. It was something entirely new and amazing to Keith. He wanted to drink it in forever.

“Stop!” Lance pulled back and covered his hands with his sleeves.

“Don’t deny it.” Immediately feeling the absence of something altogether _Lance_ , Keith grew more desperate to feel it again.

“Drop it!” Lance avoided Keith’s eyes.

“Damn, it was just getting fun, too.” He adjusted his position, shoving both hands into the pockets of his hoodie.

“You’re an asshole.” Lance pouted dramatically.

“You’re cu-”

A piercing tone rang out in the bathroom and interrupted Keith. Lance tensed.

“I’m sorry, I really need to get this.” He muttered after checking the caller ID, pressing the phone to his ear and walking out. Keith breathed out. He could finally breathe, he realised.

As he made his way back to Shiro, he couldn’t help but scan the room for Lance. He slid down into his chair. Disappointed that he hadn’t even been able to say goodbye.

“You were in there a while.” Shiro teased. “Were you with someone?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Lance.” Keith sighed. “He had to take a call and left.” Shiro sat up.

“The one you were checking out earlier?” He looked around the café, clearly trying to find the person in question.

“Yeah, but he’s gone.” Keith was already fed up with the conversation. “Obviously.” He gestured around the café.

“So…” Shiro spoke while leaning in towards him. “What happened in there?” Keith felt a blush rise to his cheeks, despite nothing except harmless and meaningless flirting occurring in that bathroom.

“Nothing.” Shiro tilted his head and smirked. “Nothing! We were talking.” Keith hurriedly changed the subject before Shiro could get anything else in.

***

Keith emptied the last of his coffee from the mug before standing up and slipping on his jacket. He and Shiro thanked the barista before walking out into the cold. As he pulled his jacket tightly closed around him, he couldn’t help but hear what sounded like the end of a conversation.

“Yeah, it’s fine, seriously.”

Keith struggled to make out a figure leant up against a wall near the café through the snow that had begun to fall.

“I’m just glad you’re okay, you scared me.”

Keith took a step towards who he knew was Lance, before hesitating. He was talking on the phone; it would be rude to interrupt him.

“Okay, bye, yeah, love you, yeah, of course, love you too, bye.” Lance seemed to slump further on the wall.

“Keith, you coming?” Shiro questioned. They had planned to walk to the train station together.

“Do you mind if I?” Keith gestured in the direction of Lance. Shiro smiled knowingly.

“Go ahead.” He let out a laugh before walking off.

Keith could see Lance begin to walk towards him and his jacket suddenly seemed too warm, heat pooling in his stomach and his hands beginning to get clammy. He didn’t know what was different about the interaction in the bathroom but compared to that, this seemed entirely alien. It felt as if he had never spoken to Lance before. Anxiety weighed down his chest until he could barely breathe.

“I’m so glad I could catch you before you disappeared!” Keith’s head shot up and he felt as if his chest were constricting completely. “Are you okay?” Lance dipped his head an almost unnoticeable amount to look in Keith’s eyes.

“Sorry, I’m fine.” Keith tried to calmly regulate his breathing, albeit unsuccessfully. “What about you?” He mentally cursed, Lance didn’t know that he had seen him on the phone just then. “You seemed pretty scared when you answered the phone.”

“Oh. Yeah, it’s fine.” Lance recoiled slightly at the question.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to be rude or nosey or anything I just – sorry.” Keith was shattered, his broken pieces lying on the ground. He felt that he had lost his chance with Lance a long time ago

“It’s fine.” Lance inhaled. “Seriously, don’t worry.” He shuffled his feet, lightly kicking the snow piled up around them. “I was wondering, actually.” Keith couldn’t tell whether Lance was blushing or if it was just the cold. “Uh, if you wanted to go out? Or something?”

“Oh.” Keith’s eyes widened, not at all expecting that to come out of Lance’s mouth.

“Shit.” Lance’s smile drooped. “If you don’t want to, that’s fine.”

“No, I -” Keith tried to interrupt him.

“I don’t even know if you like – I mean, I’m not sure what you’re – wait.” Lance was outwardly struggling to find the words he wanted to use.

“I’d love to.” Keith’s heart was bound to beat out of his chest. Lance stood up straighter.

“Really?” He shoved his hand into his pocket and brought out his phone. “Could I have your number?” He blushed. Keith took the phone, which was slightly warm from being in Lance’s pocket. After tapping out his number, he handed it back to Lance.

“So” Keith tried to fill the silence.

“I’ll, uh, I’ll text you.” Lance smiled sheepishly, “and we’ll sort out details.”

“That sounds good,” Keith replied with a small smile. “I should probably go; I need to catch the train.” He gestured to the direction of the station.

“Oh, of course.” Lance ran his hand through his hair. “It was really nice meeting you.”

“Yeah, you too.” The two boys smiled at each other, both with slight blushes on their cheeks.

“I’ll talk to you later.” Lance began to walk off, waving at him.

“Yeah, bye.” Keith waved back. He inhaled deeply, ignoring his racing heart and jittery body. Snow began to fall again, although he didn’t remember it ever stopping.

As Keith walked to the train station he felt as if he was made entirely of butterflies. Or bees. Maybe even wasps. Regardless of what was flying around inside of him, it was buzzing and fluttering and unpleasant. Keith felt like he was being electrocuted by something that was invisibly wrapped around his body. His brain was scrambled and his heart was pounding.

He couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. He also couldn’t figure out what was so different about Lance. He had had plenty of crushes in his life, but none of them felt as real as this did. Keith internally berated himself, shaking his head slightly. He doubted anything would happen between them. No one ever _liked_ Keith.

He sat down at his platform and exhaled deeply. He should let Lance go. He barely knew the guy. Keith was sure that once Lance knew more about him he wouldn’t like him anymore. His phone buzzed in his pocket and Keith’s heart immediately started beating faster. He withdrew his phone with clammy hands.

**Text from unknown number:**

hey its me :-) when r u free ??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been ages and im sorry i just ran out of motivation and i thought this was shit but i got a rlly nice comment so thank u :-)))))))) (if ur reading this) i hope u all enjoy this chapter even tho i suck :-)

**Author's Note:**

> hi!!! i really don't know whether i want to continue this or not??? if you have any (any!!!!!) opinions please tell me im very nervous about posting this. Thank you so so much for reading :-))))


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